Maegan,About what’s coming down in Puerto Rico-
..your outrage and frustration is very much justified and understandable.Many of us Latinos share these with you.
Too often people seem to forget that Puerto Rico is an imperialist occupied and dominated possesion of the USA.
After all is said an done,the struggle of Puerto Rico is an anti-imperalist struggle.
Que Viva Puerto Rico libre! National Independence for Puerto Rico!

As to the MSM..if you are brown or black chances are they will ignore you.To a lesser extent such neglect and abandonment also applies to US labor and the independent progressive media.

We do after all live in a society rooted in centuries of institutional racism,domination and oppression.We should never forget this.This is the reality of our past,present and future.

If I may be a little introspective here,I’d like to illustrate something that I hope adds to the overall message.
Considering myself a radical leftist I can tell you that there have been many times in my life when I have run into the same brick wall-racism.
Being idealistic by nature I have always hoped for a powerful multi-ethnic,multi-racial unity and organization in the struggle against US oppression,exploitation and repression (Imperialism).

Yet after repeated collisions (resulting in some really bad head aches) I have come to realize and accept some very difficult realities which have always conflicted with my optimistic ideals.

In an article I posted awhile back on my website Chicano future tense entitled Arizona future- Class Struggle or Nationalism? I dealt with a related theme and made comments tangential to Maegan’s post here on VivirLatino.

In my article I pose a question.
“Should Latinos hold out hope,wait around for whites and other non-Latinos to take us seriously,support our struggles and issues on an equal footing-level priority as their own?
Or,should Latinos mobilize themselves to primarily look inward,embrace self-reliance,independence in ideology and organization formed around the concept of Nationalism?”

As much as I have tried to deny or reject Nationalism over the years,I have repeatedly come back to some very painful conclusions that Nationalism may indeed be the only real path to liberation for Latinos.We are ignored,our true needs considered unimportant, our very existence by and large considered irrelevant..
the general attitude towards Latinos-”Hear no evil,see no evil,speak no evil” Latinos- ‘Out of sight,out of mind”.

My epiphany..
We Latinos have to do it ourselves.There is no way around it.We must become self-reliant and independent,not expecting,hoping or wishing to be rescued by whites,other non-Latinos (even liberals,progressives and the left).

It is our battle and we must take primary responsibilty for defending our people,we must do the heavy lifting and fighting ourselves.This will be extremely difficult.There are such incredible obstacles we face within our own communities..ignorance,backwardness,colonized mentalities,accomodation to and tacit acceptance of white european domination and rule.

Not easy,but we have to begin somewhere,we cannot surrender,because surrender equals death.